Robber cops

A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja yesterday sentenced five policemen to 25 years imprisonment each for armed robbery. Bestman Denner, Musa Mohammed, Peter Enidiok, Godwin Williams and Emmanuel Ajogbor were sentenced after the court found them guilty of the charge of conspiracy and robbery preferred against them.

Delivering the judgment, the trial judge, Justice Olubunmi Oyewole held that the prosecution had been able to bring sufficient evidence to prove the case against the convicts, adding that the fact that the defendants were policemen was an ‘aggravating factor.’

The court stated that the sentence would run concurrently, beginning from March 3, 2005 when they were first remanded in prison custody. “I have duly considered the allocutus. “However, the defendants are policemen trained to protect the public and not otherwise. This in itself is an aggravating factor.

“The defendants took advantage of their being members of the Nigerian police force to rob citizens. “Using the police uniform to rob is a bad signal to the public because it will erode people’s confidence in the police force.

“The image of the police should not be dented to the extent that members of the public will begin to see police checkpoints as an armed robbers’ locations,” the court held. In the charge preferred against the policemen, they robbed a lorry loaded with George and Lace materials around 9:00p.m on November 17, 2002 along the Ikorodu-Ijebu Ode Expressway.

According to the prosecutor, Patience Alu, when the robbed lorry was going to Benin with the goods, the defendants who were at a checkpoint on the road ordered the driver of the lorry and his assistant to get out of the vehicle.

According to her, the defendants forcefully collected the keys from the occupants of the vehicle, Ogundare Sadiru and Peter Akpovile and drove it away to an undisclosed location. She added that Sadiru and Akpovile later went to report the matter at Igbogbo Police Station in Ikorodu.

The prosecution said the lorry was later found at Acme Road, Ikeja, Lagos without any of the goods. Some of the goods were found in one of the defendants’ apartment during police investigation.

Dat serve dem right thieve…… But on the otherhand our judiciary is so slow nd annoying, imagine an incident dat happened way back 2002 that they ar deciding almost at d end of 2012. . . . 10yrs imagine

The delay tactics was to allow them gather the amount requested for settlement. Very unfortunate guys, they could not muster the requirement. Remember that some people stole trillions of naira in the name of oil subsidy but they are walking the streets of Nigeria free men. Thats Nigeria for you.

Justice is gradually returning to Nigeria, it serve them right. It is quite unfortunate that the people that to protect lives and properties are the ones causing mayhem to the people. Good radiance to bad rubbish.

Thanks be to God for exposing them at last even though it took long time before charging them for the robbering offence committed since 2002, incredible.
This is just one out of many robbering cases in Nigeria today that almost 50% of robboring cases, policemen are involved, yet there are good oncs among them from responsible homes that are clean, some are believers that have received Christ.I remeber one certain year i was travelling to East, i met a Ploice officer in a decent uniform preaching the word of God inside luxiruos bus. thanks to the present police leadership and judiciary as well, wake up,God bless you.

Gud one mr.judge nd all dose dat paticepatd in d investigation. Pls my lord it will b nice if litigation period is reduced so dat Nigerians will hv more confidence in d judicial system of dis country thank u.

is a good judgment but govt should look into the welfare of the existing personnel to desist them from such act, because it is only when your take home pay cannot take you home that some of them indulge in corruption. very very important please

@Amino, why the generalized HATE? It is instructive to note that this case came to light (and successful prosecution) because of the honesty and sincerity of purpose of other policemen. They could have chosen to sweep this under the carpet and there is nothing anyone could have done. But they didn’t and decided to diligently investigate and prosecute the case. We must desist from the general condemnation of our police. They deserve our commendation whenever they do good like this, if only to encourage them to continue to weed out the few bad eggs amongst them. Please, eschew hate!